HARTLAND — Howell softball coach Lauren Evans didn’t want the best home run hitter in Livingston County swinging for the fences.
The conditions weren’t favorable, even for someone with as powerful a bat as Highlander sophomore Zoey Overton.
“I’m not gonna lie,” Evans said. “With this wind and the fences as deep as they are, I told them, ‘Don’t you dare try to hit home runs. Hit line drives. Nobody’s hitting a home run out of here.’”
Nobody but Overton, who crushed a two-run homer into the teeth of the wind over the fence in left field to ignite Howell’s 7-3 victory over Portage Central in a Division 1 regional championship game on Saturday, June 6 at Hartland High School.
The Mustangs had taken a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Overton hit her 13th homer of the season to get the Highlanders quickly back into the game.
“It was crazy,” Overton said. “There was so much going on. Good moment for me. It was really good.”
It was the only home run in any of the three games played in the Hartland regional. A few balls that might have been round-trippers on any other day became deep fly-outs.
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“Zoey’s just so strong,” Evans said. “When she sees it, she sees it. She stepped up big-time for her team, because we were able to answer back so quick.”
Also providing a strong response for Howell was junior pitcher Alison Ulanowski. She threw 33 pitches in the first inning, allowing three runs, four hits and one walk on an 81-degree day.
She needed only 52 pitches (39 of which were strikes) over the final six innings, as she held the Mustangs scoreless on two hits.
Ulanowski also pitched a complete game in a 5-1 victory over Battle Creek Lakeview in the regional semifinals, throwing six scoreless innings after allowing a first-inning run. Howell played in the first semifinal, getting a longer break for the championship game.
“I just settled down,” Ulanowski said. “The rest of the inning, I took a deep breath, tried to take it one pitch at a time. I knew I threw a lot of pitches and still had a lot to go. I had to trust my defense and trust myself, too.”
Howell (23-15) took the lead by scoring four runs in the second inning, all with two outs. A two-run double by Leighton Scott was the key play during the rally.
It’s the first regional title for Howell since the 2019 team went all the way to the state championship game before losing 3-2 in eight innings to Warren Regina. Last year’s Highlanders won a district, but were blown out 10-0 by Grand Blanc in the first game of regionals.
“They’re just a team that responds to everything the coaches throw at them,” Evans said. “I’m so proud of them. They’re coachable. They’re coached hard every day. They’re held to high expectations and they step up and respond. Every little adjustment we ask them to make, they make it in some capacity. I attribute all of this to the girls being coachable and the families allowing their kids to be coached and them wanting to win for each other.”
Howell will face fellow KLAA West member Northville in the state quarterfinals at 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 9 at Ypsilanti Lincoln. Fourth-ranked Northville swept Howell 6-3, 11-5 on May 6.
In the regional semifinals, Lakeview pitcher Angelia Palma retired the first nine Howell batters before the Highlanders got a lead-off double from Clem Stevens in the fourth. She scored on a two-run double by Leighton Scott during a three-run rally.
Howell added two runs in the fifth when Sophia May hit a two-run single with the bases loaded and two outs. Scott had hit into a double play on a grounder to the mound with the bases loaded and nobody out.
“I really wanted to have my teammate’s back, Scotty,” May said. “Two outs, there was kind of pressure, but I powered through. I knew a line drive to right field was the best option for me to get both runners in.”
Portage Central beat Grand Ledge 8-2 in the other semifinal.
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@livingstondaily.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Sophomore’s HR sparks Howell softball’s first regional title since 2019
Reporting by Bill Khan, Livingston Daily / Livingston Daily
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By Bill Khan, Livingston Daily | USA TODAY Network
